White Sox Minor League Update: June 12, 2021
Two heartbreakers, two heartburners. And: Have you ever heard of eight errors in a game?
Without studying every one of the 34 games the Charlotte Knights have played this young season, it’s hard to imagine a worse one than the doleful drubbing dealt by Durham on Saturday. The lowlights:
- Three hits, two walk — and 11 Ks — from the offense
- Jonathan Stiever, mauled
- Two errors by Matt Reynolds, giving him seven for the season and Charlotte 37 all told
- 0-for-5 with RISP
On the plus side, Will Carter and Tanner Banks were pretty good out of the pen. Mikie Mahtook subbed in for Luis González in CF and raised his average to .195. And Blake Rutherford threw a runner out at second, from right field.
As a capper, it appears (the Charlotte team recap doesn’t specify) that Luis González was hit by a pitch and left the game, as a precaution.
Bleah.
Give Birmingham credit, it’s got fight, rarely going down easy.
Falling behind, 3-1, in the seventh, the Barons rallied for two to tie in the top of the ninth, then moved ahead with a run in the 10th before it all fell apart and Bennett Sousa got walked-off in the bottom of the frame.
Let’s flash to the final two innings. The Birmingham offense wasted no time knotting the game, as Romy González led off the inning with a homer, followed by successive Micker Adolfo and Craig Dedelow doubles.
After Luis Ledo capped a strong, two-inning outing with a scoreless ninth, the Barons went back to work in the 10th. Mitch Roman tapped in the freebie runner with a one-out single, but B-ham left two runners on, and it would cost them.
Sousa could get just one out, a gimme out on a foul bunt from leadoff batter Seaver Whalen. On the very next pitch, Rene Pinto went deep to center, and it was all over.
Another team with some late fight, but ultimately, another loss.
After both clubs traded runs in the fourth (the Dash tally coming on Lenyn Sosa’s fourth homer of the year), there was no action until the 10th, when Greenville Drove home two, and the Winstons mustering just one.
In the top, Tyler Osik passed a ball to get the freebie runner over to third, which may have rattled steely Sal Biasi, because on a full count, he served up a gopher ball that was crushed to right-center by Cole Brannen. In the home half, freebie Johan Cruz did get home after getting balked to third and Osik tapping a grounder. But a K and a grounder later, hopes were Dashed.
Pluses? Whoo boy, the pitching was lights-out until that homer, so take a bow Davis Martin, Edgar Navarro and Luke Shilling.
Completing my personal coverage masacreé this Saturday is a game of sheer debauchery down in Kannapolis. Not many games you see eight errors, eh? (And let’s keep in mind that at home, if anything the scoring skewed generous toward the home CBs.)
This craptastic game featured some semi-highlights, including José Rodríguez mashing and running (10th SB!), Rigo Fernández and Tyson Messer pitching OK, and Caberea Weaver getting on base all four times up to the plate.
Lowlights? Well, you may have heard, eight errors (two from Rodríguez, two throws, tallying 11 already in this young season) from seven different players. Another troubling start from Matthew Thompson. Falling behind, 9-1, by the end of three. Dropping to 20 games below .500, again.
Ugh. This is gross. Let’s get it over with.